Iluka to close Wagerup mine

Iluka Resources will close its Wagerup mine in south-west Western Australia early next year.

The Wagerup operation, which has been mining sulphate ilmenite, will close in January.

The company says the decision follows a routine review.

Operations manager Jim White says Iluka had hoped to transfer the 27 workers from Wagerup to its proposed Tutunup South mine, but that project still has not been approved.

"The approval process is a process that is open-ended in time scale and while we planned for the process to be complete in the right time scale to allow that transfer, that time scale is not going to match up," he said.

Iluka will also close its mine at Waroona late next year and hopes to transfer those workers to Tutunup South if it has the necessary approvals by then.